An Exercise in Gratitude and Fear or Fort Valley 2021

Some endurance rides are straight forward. There is a trail. You ride it as fast and as best as it safe for you and your horse. They all have various challenges, and none are ‘easy,’ but some challenges are environmental, like heat index, some are mental like looking at the same terrain over and over (horses don’t like to be bored either).  Many of the challenges are physical, like dealing with deep sand that can cause cramps. All equestrian endeavors have challenges. This weekend pushed limits I knew existed, but never thought I would have to deal with that kind of mental Oh My God moments.

The Fort Valley ride in Virginia this year had its share of challenges, but the one that stood out to me the most (and I believe left the most impression on Glory too) was the trail itself. This trail had everything challenging on it. I guess Glory and I have reached a new level of cheerful craziness though, because we did it twice, no big deal. Except there IS a part of me that is still in fearful shock of the mountains we climbed, and I have bad dreams of falling off cliffs now it even though we rode the trail just fine.

Day One:  My sister (Audrey Hager) and her Appy/Arab Merry), and Glory and I start off the race as the sun came up in the mid pack of 20 starters. We trot off steady up the gravel road to climb the mountain, 2 miles up.  The horses are relaxed, and we can easily bring them down to a walk every couple of minutes to make sure they don’t tie up after the first of many long climbs we know we’re going to make. The top is great, and short! Then it’s right back to going 2 miles down the mountain!  Now in case you think these trails are nice wide easy trails, let me set you straight. Once you get off the road, the trail on THIS mountain is about 4’ wide (at the wide end), then it’s a drop off (this was the easy mountain).  It is also chunky sharp leg eating rocks. When I say you are safer riding your horse on these trails I mean it, because if you get off and hike, you could very quickly mess your ankles up. Slow going right? Glory says, ‘I GOT this!’  and cheerfully struts up and down and over the rocks at a fast elevated walk that feels like riding a floating parade horse.  (Thank you, Science of Motion dressage work!)  We even got to some dirt paths that we trot downhill on without fatiguing (normally I do not do a lot of trots downhill to save the concussion on their legs, but this ride leaves you no choice if you want to make time).

Okay! One mountain done, now what? We get to a grassy logging road and let our trot really open up (about 12 mph). La la la, then WHOA, a lovely landowner in the Halloween spirit put fun decorations on the trail. Ghosts and Reapers in the trees Oh My! Glory didn’t care but the horse behind us almost shied into us.  Oops. Okay, we got going again. Up and over some more nice ravines (like not too rocky, just right narrow 1.5 wide dirt forest paths that you can TROT!), then we hit a road running along the Shenandoah River.  It’s a gravel road with good traction, so we open up again and get some canter on.  After about 2 miles of this, TURN.  Down toward the river on the ‘Dipsy Doodle’ section. Cute right? Well…we caught up to the front runners. The trail turned into a series (like five in a row) of v shaped ravines that you slide down to the bottom and climb up. No big deal, except Glory got HOT. Like yank the reins away and try to jump halfway down and up the other side to catch up to the leaders like he was a talented eventing jumper horse (he’s not).    Well, we argued. It was not fun. After much cussing about trying not to slide down into the river, we calmed down. Then oh look! A drink spot. So then I actually ride into the river on purpose (because it was a safe beach instead of the bottom of a ravine!).  We stop to make sure another rider can safely mount up in company (leaving her would have been extremely rude). Then set off again. Up and down. Beautiful forest trails, with much trotting, twists, and turns (re: watch those ribbons and don’t get lost!).  The horses felt great. I felt great! It was fun! But oh wait, Glory hasn’t taken a good drink yet and we have to climb the mountain again!  I try not to fuss and worry. We get to a water tank, and his sips a little. I decide to electrolyte him early before the climb up. He spit half out. Sigh. I can’t worry too much; we’ll just have to survive the mountain.  So, we start the climb. Just walking the ROCKS that deserve so much respect. We make the top and descend! And the horses are feeling fine, smelling camp, and willingly trotting down the fresh gravel road on a significant slope even though the stones are rolling under their feet. Loop 1 (about 20 miles) is done. 

After our 45-minute vet hold at the camp, were the horses vetted through with all A’s and ate and drank good, we head out again.

Up the same mountain (the easy one) that we started on. They were not pleased. They walked and whined, hoping to do something different and not as steep. The road is long, but we make it to the top, and back down, all the while wondering why the ride manager said the second loop was so hard (not for ‘panty waists’ was how she phrased it). We trot and make pretty good time as the loop wore on, no big deal.  The horses were taking good care of us and themselves and we were in the sweet spot of a race were there wasn’t any other horses close in front of us or right behind us.  Then we pass the sign that says Indian Graves Ridge Trail. Hmmm that sounds ominous. Okay, we can do this. So we head out on it me thinking is this a haunted trail or something?  All is well with a nice slow climb for 2 miles.  Then it starts to get steep. We slow down. Just as we crest a section of trail expecting to be near a flat spot, it climbs again. UP and UP. Rocks, mud, and a tired heaving horse. I get off and walk beside Glory for a while. Give him some electrolytes. (This is the kind of ride that invites horses to tie up on, which are serious muscle spasms). I am thinking we got to be near the top. It’s near a mile of steep climb, think ski slope steep.  We rest the horses every couple of minutes. Then the trail opens to the sky. No more trees, we are winding around the rock face of a mountain. The ‘Trail’ or GOAT PATH narrows to about a foot in sections. I glance down and get dizzy, and my brain is screaming at me. At one point the path was so narrow someone tried to widen it be shoving some rocks in against some tree roots (like that is going to hold a horse’s weight!) I grabbed my prayer beads (yes, I ride prepared for ANYTHING) and held to my faith in Glory. It was terrifying. One stumble and we were done. I’ve ridden lots of scary trail and this topped the cake!  After we get along about 30 yards of this, we reach a turn in some huge boulders.  It’s a mad scramble up the cliff, just like Cougar Rock in Tevis (The famous photo stop in the Western States Trail Race)!  Except there no way in heck I’m taking my camera out to prove it.  You’ll just have to trust me.  And then WE ARE AT THE TOP! Hooray! I kid you not Glory and I both heaved a huge sigh of relief. We are both shaky enough to warrant me getting off for a while. The view is amazing. The trail did not relent. We now picked our way across the razorback ridge on a still narrow trail. This is why insisting on good ground manners is so important, one rude shove from Gory and I would roll down the mountain.  I hop back on, and we keep picking our way along, and then Holy Sign of Relief, I see the trail turn down to camp. Joyfully we make our way into ride camp, on the lovely WIDE mountain trail we came up on our first loop.

We get through the second hold with all A’s again on the vet card! Merry and Audrey are doing great, considering this is only Merry’s 3rd 50-mile race. After a 45-minute rest, we head out again for the last loop. I remember this loop from past years as being the Easy Loop. Only 12 ish miles of relatively flat easy fields and trail.  We truck right along, just finding out that we are in the running to be in the top ten finishers. Wow! So I ask Glory to put a little more speed on. He does so with joy and tells me he’s got plenty left in the tank!  We play leapfrog with a couple of riders for about 5 miles, then we hit another uphill climb.  This is where Glory really puts on the jets and after all of that climbing earlier, still trots strong up the hill. When I say this loop is flatter, I mean there is no real mountains to climb, just your average hills! We crest it and realize the horses we were leap frogging got left in the dust. I actually feel like I’m competitively riding a distance race beyond just finishing and enjoying it.  I decide to keep riding forward as long as Glory seems okay with it. Audrey said Merry is good to go too. So, we keep trucking and hit an open flat section of hay fields. The kind of fields in which you can really get a horse running in. I never let my horses just take off at a gallop, ever. BUT, today, I caught sight of 2 riders ahead of us and decide to see if we could pass them.  Glory’s huge stride easily catches up to them without too much effort, and we trot with them around some turns and through a nice creek where everyone drinks. All 4 of us riders stay in the creek and don’t leave until the last horse is done, this is NOT the time to pass.  Then off to the fields again. I know the loop from riding it last year and realize we have about 2.5 miles left to the whole race. I got to make our move soon! As the four of us find a good rhythm of big trot and slow canter, I see my opportunity. I ask Glory with a thought and a release to go faster (not even a squeeze of the leg, no pressure on Glory because I didn’t want him to give me the speed if he was too tired).  We start an honest hand gallop with ease! Glory is happy, I’m happy and in awe of just how much he’s given me today!  We pass the 2 riders and don’t look back!  We got to some turns and shockingly climb up yet another hill. Okay now I look back. I estimate we have about a 60 second lead! So, we long trot the last 2 miles (the longest seeming miles) and then sight the finish! 

We made it! Audrey and I tied for 6th place on the toughest race (terrain wise) that we’ve ever done!  It took us about 10 hours and 10 minutes to complete. We estimated by our GPS that we had about 8,000 feet of elevation gain! We were both on cloud nine! Glory and Merry were happy to go to camp and EAT! We vetted through and both decided to stand for Best Condition. This is where the Veterinary Control Judge gives each horse a more thorough evaluation an hour after you finish, to catch any sores or issues that can crop up, especially if a horse has been over faced. The vetting goes well! Then we go get weighed with our tack, this and time factors in the scoring of BC. 

We settle in, and now I’m faced with the thought of doing it ALL OVER AGAIN.  However, I’m too elated to worry much about it.  Glory gets lots to eat and I compression wrap his legs for the night. We rest and find out that Glory won High Vet Score! This is a great honor for both horse and rider, it meant we took super good care of each other and is rewarded to the horse with the highest score on their vet card!  We missed out on Best Condition due to time and weight, but I didn’t care, this was the first time we’ve done THIS well. 

I go to bed. And have a couple of terrible dreams of that Indian Graves Trail! Like of falling and screaming Glory’s name as I watch him fall! I wake up shaking but decide to meditate for a few minutes and really delve deep into my intuition. I asked my gut, should we go back out there for a 2nd race?  Will Glory be fit enough, strong enough, hydrated enough to make those climbs AGAIN? My gut instinct and intuition said YES HAVE FAITH.

SO, we went out and did it all over again, this time with our friends Felisa Read and her horse Lenny. We rode the race the same way as the day before. What was different was the dreaded mountain climb on Loop 2, in that I knew exactly what was coming. You might think it would be easier the 2 nd day, but for me it was not.  It was even scarier. Once we got to the rocks and super narrow sections, my heart was in my throat the whole time, I had to remind myself to breathe, and I was trying not to cry from nerves (It’s been a very LONG time since I’ve been tested this way!).  We followed faithful Lenny up, because I knew I didn’t have the courage to face that mountain in front or alone.  Glory was as strong and calm as ever, especially with Felisa and Lenny to hold us together. Glory has learned that sometimes a great endurance horse must carry the weight of a rider’s emotions too, and he was very patient and caring about it for me. I think I did close my eyes at one point, and I had a death grip on his mane. When we got to the top, Felisa and I both got off just to feel the solid earth under our own feet! Glory looked back at the trail we came up and then looked at me, as if to say ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE we did that TWICE! ‘I think he questioned my leadership smarts a little then and there! 

We get down the ridge and into camp and I still can’t quite shake that almost falling feeling.  I think it might have to do with the fact that when you are in the saddle for so long, you can get a feeling of ‘land sickness’ when you get off, where being motionless can fry your brain. The last loop flies by, but not as exciting as yesterday. We place 8th! Another top ten! I am over the moon! I also just want to go to bed! Glory vets through just fine, and we both feel pretty good physically. 

The next few nights, I still dream of Indian Graves Ridge. The terror fades a little, but I know in my heart I will be very careful of how I approach this particular trail next year, if we do at all.  It will take a special horse to care me over that mountain again, so I will not commit much thought to it. I remain forever grateful of the adventures Glory and I have shared, and the fears we have faced together!